Generational Covenant

October 1

Isaiah 58-59

Psalm 107:33-43

Proverbs 24:5-6

2 Thessalonians 2

Generational Covenant

“’As for Me, this is My covenant with them,’ says Yahweh: ‘My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your seed, nor from the mouth of your seed’s seed,’  says Yahweh, ‘from now and forever.’”  Isaiah 59:21  LSB 

Most of the book of Isaiah is a rebuke of the people of Israel for following after other gods, not being faithful to the one true God and their general moral failures.  It is evident that the people do not deserve God’s favor. And yet in the passage above God again speaks of His covenant with His people and promises His presence and His guidance will never be removed from them.  We see things in view of our current lives.  We think about what our children’s lives will be like and we might try to imagine what our grandchildren may experience, but we don’t even think about much after that.  God has a different perspective.  He is a generational God.  When speaking to the prophets, He didn’t refer to Himself as “your God.”  He referred to Himself as, “I am the God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob.”  He wanted them to understand that generations come and go, people are born and die, but God remains the same.  The same God that interacted with Adam in the garden, talks to me.  Just as He was faithful to the children of Israel, He will be faithful to me and He will be faithful to my great-great-great-grandchildren after me.  He will keep His promises.  Even though many in Israel did not follow God, there was always a faithful remnant in every generation.  There were a few who obeyed God and His commands. 

Throughout history, we see the pattern that faith is passed down from generation to generation.  Obviously, not everyone comes to faith because they have parents and grandparents who tell them about Jesus but faithful people in one generation pass their faith down to people in the next generation.  If that had not happened, Christianity would not be available to us today.  Each generation before us has been faithful to do their part.  Now it is our turn to pass on our faith to the generation after us.  We cannot take this responsibility lightly.  We each have a role to fulfill. “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”  Deuteronomy 6:6-7 LSB  Passing on our faith is not a passive endeavor.  We can’t just expect that they will learn about God by watching us.  We have to actively, intentionally tell them about Jesus.  They need to see us reading our Bibles and living out our faith and we need to talk about Him all the time.  But our responsibility doesn’t stop with our home.  We need to be taking every opportunity we can to teach others about Jesus, but we also have to make sure they are prepared to tell the generation after them.  It is a big job but God will make sure it is accomplished.  Are you doing your part?